[16] It can't rain all the time

ORN:  Today, I ran a bugger of a tempo run, five miles.  I planned to run it at about an 8'36" pace, but that didn't happen.  The main cause of today's suffering was the rain and humidity.  Running through fog and mist half the time, I think there was more water vapor in the air than molecular oxygen.  At times, it was hard to breathe.  Not "call 911" hard-to-breathe, but I could sense that my lungs were straining to work efficiently.  If I had gills, or the skin of a salamander, capable of sucking O₂ right out of the air, then I'm sure I would have been able to run closer to my goal pace.  As it was, I gave up on the goal after two miles or so and just tried to do my best, running comfortably hard on the same hilly course I always run. 

 

I suppose I could have been tired.  I ran a quick-and-dirty two miles last night because I blew off cross-training.  I had a bad eating day too.  My thinking around lunch time went something like this:  "Let's see, I weighed in at 171.5 this morning, less than when I got out of boot camp.  I haven't weighed this little in a long time.  Let me destroy that achievement with inactivity and a Chinese buffet."  I can be an idiot sometimes.  But you'd understand if you could try the dumplings at this place.

 

On Sunday, I'm running this, my favorite 13-mile course.  How funny is it?  I'm looking forward to only running 13 miles.  A mere 13 miles.